Medicine Consult Syllabus
This syllabus is intended to serve as a practical reference guide for the physician doing
preoperative evaluations and medical consultation. Thus, most of the references are
review articles or guidelines dealing with frequently encountered clinical scenarios.
Those seeking an in-depth understanding of specific topics should search the primary
literature. If your search reveals updated reviews or other articles that would be of use to
other medical consultants, please add them to the syllabus.
Article Summaries (revised 6-28-07)
Introductory Topics:
Principles of Effective Consultation: 25 years ago, Lee Goldman published the
“10 Commandments for Effective Consultation”. This 2007 article re-examines
the question of how to be a useful and effective consultant in light of current
practice patterns.
Cardiac Topics:
Assessing and Reducing Cardiac Risk: Review article by our own Andy
Auerbach with Dr. Goldman on various conditions that may increase the risk of
perioperative cardiac complications as well as interventions that may reduce risk.
ACC/AHA Guideline (Perioperative Cardiac Evaluation): 2002 update of the
ACC & AHA’s guideline on perioperative cardiac issues in patients undergoing
noncardiac operations. It includes a widely adopted algorithm for preoperative
evaluation, but was published before recent studies on coronary artery
revascularization. Expect another update of the guideline soon.
ACC/AHA Guideline (Beta-blockers): 2006 guideline on the use of betablockers to reduce the risk of perioperative cardiac complications.
Studies:
Mangano (1996): The first widely reported trial showing the benefits of
perioperative beta-blockers. There are methodologic problems with this study.
Poldermans (1999): RCT of beta-blockers in vascular surgery patients with
inducible ischemia found marked benefit in preventing death and MI.
McFalls (2004): RCT of coronary artery revascularization before vascular
surgery found no benefit on top of aggressive medical management.
Pulmonary Topics:
ACP Guideline for Preoperative Pulmonary Evaluation: 2006 guideline by
the ACP summarizes the recommendations from the systematic reviews (see
below) on how to assess and reduce the risk of postoperative pulmonary
complications. Their recommendations are rather non-specific and equivocal.
ACP Review (Risk Stratification): Who is at risk for postoperative pulmonary
complications? According to the ACP, just about everyone. Here are the details.
ACP Review (Risk Reduction): How can the risk of postoperative pulmonary
complications be reduced? This article reviews the evidence.
DVT Prophylaxis and Coagulation Issues:
ACCP Guideline on VTE Prophylaxis: 2004 guideline by the American
College of Chest Physicians on DVT prophylaxis. Expect an update soon.
Perioperative Anticoagulation (Aggressive vs. Conservative): A patient needs
to have his chronic anticoagulation treatment held for an operation. What is the
risk of thromboembolism, and should a heparin bridge be given to reduce this
risk? These two articles come up with different recommendations for this
perennial controversy.
Endocrine Topics:
Diabetes Management in Surgical Patients: This is a review from
UptoDate.com on the preoperative evaluation and perioperative management of
diabetes. It gives general advice on how to achieve glycemic control.
Stress Dose Steroids: Does a patient on chronic glucocorticoid therapy need
additional “stress dose” steroids when undergoing major surgery? This review
from UptoDate.com looks at the physiologic rationale and evidence and gives
reasonable recommendations.
Miscellaneous Topics:
Delirium Review: How do you evaluate and treat patients who develop
postoperative delirium. This practical review from BMJ focuses more on
treatment.
Endocarditis Prophylaxis (AHA Guideline): Are you doing anyone any good
with all that amoxicillin? This 2007 update is much more minimalistic that prior
versions of the guideline. Table 3 lists the only cardiac conditions that are felt to
warrant prophylaxis.
Hip Fracture Review: Hip fracture may be the most frequent reason for medical
consultation at UCSF. This UptoDate.com article review most of the medical
issues related to hip fracture repair.
Perioperative Medication Management: This review from UptoDate.com looks
at the evidence (or lack of) for stopping or continuing specific medications
perioperatively.
Surgery in Patient with Liver Disease: This article reviews physiologic
concerns when patients with liver dysfunction undergo surgery. It looks at
perioperative risk associated with acute and chronic liver disease and the
management of complications.